M’Pumbu stopped former two-division Rage in the Cage titleholder
Rich Hale on third-round strikes in the Season 4 light heavyweight
tournament final at
Bellator 45 on Saturday at the L’Auberge du Lac Casino and
Resort in Lake Charles, La. Finished for the first time in more
than four years, Hale met his demise 4:17 into round three.

M’Pumbu nearly finished it inside the first five minutes, when he
planted Hale on his back with a stinging left hook. He followed up
with a standing-to-ground right hand and threatened with a brabo
choke, but Hale survived to see a second round. There, the Arizonan
backed up a more passive M’Pumbu with jabs, leg kicks and
occasional kicks to the body.

Hale had the momentum, as the fight spilled into the third round.
However, with roughly two minutes to go in the period, M’Pumbu
raised his aggression level. He landed a blistering right hand that
sent Hale crashing to the canvas once again, the finish in sight.
After hesitating briefly, M’Pumbu pounced and showered his foe with
right hands and hammerfists. Referee Jason Herzog gave Hale every
opportunity to answer; he did not.

As with his semifinal victory over Tim
Carpenter in April, M’Pumbu was reduced to tears.

“I can’t help but cry,” he said, moments after becoming Bellator’s
first 205-pound champion. “I do everything I do for my kids. It’s
good to know all those years of hard work are going to pay
off.”

‘Pitbull’ Outpoints Straus, Clinches Title
Shot

K.
Mills

Pitbull (right) got by Straus.

A cleaner, more-aggressive offensive approach
carried the once-beaten Patricio
“Pitbull” Freire to a unanimous decision over Daniel
Straus in the Bellator Season 4 featherweight tournament final.
Scores were 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 for Freire, who will challenge
reigning 145-pound champion Joe Warren
later this year.

The 23-year-old Freire landed the strikes of consequence throughout
the 15-minute encounter and all but shut down Straus’ high-octane,
wrestling-centric attack. The match was marked by spits of action
and extended periods of relative inactivity. Freire utilized a
strong clinch game, knees to the body in close quarters and
punishing leg kicks when the two separated.

Straus was ineffective from the outside, often ceding to the
superior striker. Freire attempted to bait him into moving forward
late in the third round, as he attempted to put an exclamation
point on his 17th victory in 18 professional appearances. The two
tournament finalists finished their engagement in the clinch, from
which Straus executed a suplex that was more primal than technical.
By then, he had already lost the fight on the scorecards.

“There were lots of things going on in my mind,” said Freire, “but
the primary thing was the victory and [getting] a shot at a belt
for the first time in my career.”

The win sets up Freire for his long-desired rematch with Warren,
the man who handed him his only career defeat in a split decision
11 months ago.

“I’m going to be a champion,” the Brazilian said. “I’m going to
take his belt.”

Blood-Soaked Alvey Edges Amoussou

K.
Mills

Alvey (top) outworked Amoussou.

In one of Bellator’s bloodiest battles to date,
promotional newcomer Sam Alvey
stunned Strikeforce veteran Karl
Amoussou and notched a narrow split decision victory in their
Season 5 middleweight tournament qualifier. All three cageside
judges scored it 29-28, two of them in Alvey’s favor.

Early on, it did not look good for Alvey. Amoussou attacked with
kicks to the head body and legs, scored with a textbook judo throw
and transitioned immediately to mount. From there, he unleashed a
series of sharp elbows and opened a pair of cuts on Alvey’s head --
one near the brow, the other on the scalp. Blood flowed freely, but
Alvey did not fold.

Amoussou tried for an ill-advised armbar from high mount, allowing
Alvey to escape and turn into top position. By the time the frame
was finished, Amoussou’s entire torso was covered in his opponent’s
blood.

“I’ve never bled in a fight before,” said Alvey, who will carry a
four-fight winning streak into his next appearance. “It’s a little
disturbing.”

Amoussou’s pace slowed noticeably in round two, as he let Alvey
climb back into the fight. The 25-year-old Waterford, Wis., native
capitalized. He often countered the incoming Frenchman with
sweeping hooks, and though few of them landed flush, they were
enough of a deterrent to keep Amoussou at bay. Alvey closed the
stronger of the two in the third round, as he answered an attempted
trip with a takedown and unleashed some wild, flailing
ground-and-pound in the final seconds.